In honour of the Western Hockey League celebrating its 50th season beginning this September, we thought we’d count down the top 25 WHL teams of all time (because 50 is just too crazy). Here are Nos. 15-11
15. 2006–07 Vancouver Giants
A year after winning the WHL Championship, the Giants seemed like they were on their way to a second straight title in 2006. They blew through the Western Conference playoffs and took on the regular season champs in the Medicine Hat Tigers. The Giants had a 3-2 lead in the final, but the Tigers came back to win Game 6 and then ousted the Giants in a double-overtime thriller in Game 7. Vancouver got its revenge, however, as the host team at the Memorial Cup. They beat Medicine Hat in the final to win their first national championship. Vancouver was led by Milan Lucic, who potted 30 goals, Tim Kraus, J.D. Watt and Cody Franson. Lucic—veery bit the physical presence he is today—was the Memorial Cup MVP.
14. 1986–87 Medicine Hat Tigers
The Tigers had depth in 1986 and featured eight 20-goal scorers while running away with the Eastern Division thanks to a 48-19-5 record. Mark Pederson led Bryan Maxwell’s club with 56 goals and the Tigers got big contributions from Neil Brady, Wayne Hayes and Jeff Wenass. They also got 14 goals from a 16-year-old Trevor Linden. After a first-round bye the Tigers bested Moose Jaw in six games and Saskatoon in seven before winning the WHL title by beating Portland in seven games. They then traveled to Oshawa where they beat Generals 6-2 in the final to win the Memorial Cup.
13. 1982–83 Portland Winterhawks
Ken Hodge’s team was full of goal scorers and won 50 games en route to the Western Division title. Randy Heath scored 82 times; Ken Yaremchuk added 109 assists while Cam Neely and Ray Ferraro also had big scoring years (there were six 100-point scorers on the teamm, and Ferraro “only” had 90). The Winterhawks cruised into the final where they were upset by the upstart Lethbridge Broncos in five games. As the host team for the Memorial Cup that year, Portland would get a chance to strike back. They added goaltender Mike Vernon from the Calgary Wranglers—which you were allowed to do back then—for the tournament and went on to wipe out Oshawa in the championship game.
12. 2007–08 Spokane Chiefs
Relying on timely scoring and a stingy defense, the Spokane Chiefs tied a franchise record with 50 wins. Goalie Dustin Tokarski a .922 save percentage and along with Drayson Bowman, Mitch Wahl, Judd Blackwater and rookie Tyler Johnson led a balanced Chiefs team. They bested their rival Tri-City Americans in a seven-game Western Conference final before going on to sweep Lethbridge in the WHL final. They went unbeaten in the Memorial Cup round robin in Kitchener and beat the Rangers in the final for their second Cup. They didn’t break any Memorial Cup records that year, but did manage to break the Cup itself.
11. 2013–14 Edmonton Oil Kings
This is the third straight spring that the Oil Kings were in the WHL final—playing all three against the Portland Winterhawks. After winning in 2012, the Oil Kings came back in 2014 after blowing a late lead in Game 6 at home to win the Ed Chyonweth Cup in Game 7 at Portland. With guys like Henrik Samuelsson, Curtis Lazar and Mitch Moroz, the Oil Kings could score. They also gave up the fewest goals in the league with a blueline that featured Griffin Reinhart, Dyson Mayo and Aaron Irving. Those guys along with all-world goalie Tristan Jarry led the Oil Kings to the Central Division title. On their way to final they ran through the Eastern Conference playoffs—only losing twice. They weren’t given much of a chance in the Memorial Cup, but after winning the longest game in Memorial Cup history, a triple-overtime win against Val-d’Or, they stunned Guelph 6-3 in the final.